1. For Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
Questions you might ask them
- “If living prophets and additional scriptures can correct or go beyond the Bible, how do you personally decide when a prophet or new revelation might be wrong or contradict Scripture?”
- “Galatians 1:8 warns about ‘another gospel.’ How do you know that the restored gospel isn’t what Paul was warning about?”
- “Historic Christianity teaches that God is eternal and unchanging. If God was once a man who progressed to godhood, how is He truly eternal and unchanging?”
- “If the Father has a body of flesh and bones, how do you understand verses that say God is spirit and that no one has seen God (John 4:24; 1 Timothy 1:17)?”
- “Can you say right now that you are completely forgiven and know that you have eternal life if you died today? If not, why not (1 John 5:13)?”
- “If we are saved by grace ‘after all we can do,’ how do you ever know you’ve done enough?”
- “Why do you believe in doing works (like baptisms) for the dead when the Bible says after death comes judgment and that we can only be saved in this life?”
Hard questions they might ask you
- “If your church doesn’t have living prophets or apostles today, how is it truly the same church as in the New Testament?”
- “Where in the Bible does it say that God stopped giving new scripture or stopped speaking through prophets?”
- “If there are thousands of Protestant denominations with different doctrines, how can you say you have the fullness of truth while we don’t?”
- “If faith alone is enough, why do so many verses stress obedience, works, and enduring to the end?”
- “If families aren’t sealed for eternity, what happens to your family relationships after death—do they just end?”
2. For Jehovah’s Witnesses
Questions you might ask them
- “In John 20:28, Thomas calls Jesus ‘My Lord and my God.’ Why does Jesus accept this worship if He is not truly God?”
- “In Hebrews 1:6, all the angels of God are commanded to worship the Son. Why would God command worship of a creature if Jesus is not God?”
- “Is it possible for a sincere Christian to understand the Bible correctly without being part of the Watchtower organization?”
- “If past Watchtower teachings (e.g., on dates, medical issues) wee later corrected, how do you personally test whether current teachings are true (Acts 17:11)?”
- “In the New Testament, all believers are part of the new covenant and have Christ as their mediator (Hebrews 8). On what basis do you believe Jesus is not your personal mediator?”
- “How do you know if you are truly one of Jehovah’s people if most promises in the New Testament only apply to the 144,000 in your theology?”
Hard questions they might ask you
- “Where in the Bible does it clearly say that God is three persons in one God, and where is the word ‘Trinity’?”
- “If Jesus is God, how can he say ‘the Father is greater than I’ (John 14:28) and pray to the Father?”
- “Why do most churches teach that the soul is immortal and goes straight to heaven or hell when Ecclesiastes says ‘the dead know nothing’?”
- “If God is loving and just, how can He torture people forever in hell for sins committed in a short lifetime?”
- “Why don’t you use God’s name ‘Jehovah’ (or ‘Yahweh’) regularly if it appears in the original Scriptures?”
- “If Christians are supposed to be separate from the world, why do so many churches get involved in politics, military service, or celebrate holidays with pagan origins?”
3. For Roman Catholics
Questions you might ask them
- “If Scripture is God-breathed and sufficient to equip the man of God for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16–17), what essential truths for salvation are missing that require infallible tradition?”
- “When Scripture and church tradition seem to conflict, practically speaking, which one has the final say for your conscience, and why?”
- “If justification is a process that can be lost and regained, how do you reconcile that with Romans 5:1, which speaks of having been justified and having peace with God as a present reality?”
- “When Paul contrasts faith and works in Romans 4 and Ephesians 2:8–9, how do you fit sacramental works into that without compromising grace?”
- “Can you say with certainty that if you died tonight, you would be with Christ? If not, how does that relate to 1 John 5:13, which says we can know we have eternal life?”
- “If purgatory is necessary to purify you, what did Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice on the cross fail to accomplish (Hebrews 10:10–14)?”
- “Why do you believe in praying to Mary or the saints when prayers should be to God alone?”
Hard questions they might ask you
- “If everyone can interpret the Bible for themselves, how do you avoid chaos and contradictory doctrines? Who decides what is the ‘right’ interpretation?”
- “Before the New Testament canon was finalized, how did Christians know which books were Scripture without an authoritative Church?”
- “Why do many Protestant churches allow divorce and remarriage in situations Jesus seems not to permit?”
- “If you reject the Catholic Church, which existed for centuries before the Reformation, where was your exact ‘Bible-only’ church during those years?”
- “If you say we’re saved by ‘faith alone,’ why is the only time ‘faith alone’ appears (James 2:24) saying we’re ‘not justified by faith alone’?”
- “If the early Church universally practiced the Eucharist as more than a symbol, why do many Protestants treat it as only a memorial?”
4. For Atheists / Agnostics
Questions you might ask them
- “On your worldview, are moral truths (like ‘torturing children for fun is wrong’) objectively true, or just preferences of human societies?”
- “If we are the product of blind, unguided processes, why should we trust that our minds are aimed at truth rather than just survival?”
- “If the universe, life, and consciousness are all products of chance and necessity, what grounds do you have for believing in universal, immaterial laws of logic and mathematics?”
- “Science describes how the physical world behaves, but what do you think explains why there is something rather than nothing at all?”
- “If you require strong evidence for everything, what is your evidence that ‘there is no God’ or that ‘God is extremely unlikely’?”
- “If Christianity were true, would you want to know it? If not, what does that say about the role of the will, not just intellect, in your unbelief?”
Hard questions they might ask you
- “If God is all-powerful and all-loving, why is there so much seemingly pointless suffering—like children dying of cancer or natural disasters?”
- “Why does God stay hidden? If He wants a relationship with us, why doesn’t He make His existence as obvious as the sun?”
- “What about people who never hear the gospel or are raised sincerely in other religions—are they all going to hell?”
- “Why does the Bible contain commands or stories that seem morally troubling—like the conquest of Canaan, slavery regulations, or harsh punishments?”
- “If Christianity is true, why are there so many different denominations that disagree with each other on important issues?”
- How do you know that your religious experience is from the Christian God and not just psychological or like the experiences people report in other religions?”
5. General Hard Questions (for anyone at the door)
Questions you might ask them
- “When you read the New Testament on its own terms, who do you think Jesus is claiming to be?”
- “What do you think is the biggest difference between what you believe about Jesus and what the earliest Christians believed?”
- “If I asked you to summarize the good news in 60 seconds, what exactly is the good news or gospel?”
- “On what basis do you believe God accepts you: what Christ has done alone, or Christ plus something you must do?”
- “If God has spoken clearly in Scripture, what would it look like to submit to that if it corrected your current beliefs?”
- “Are there any passages in the Bible that trouble you because they don’t fit neatly into your current beliefs?”
Hard questions they might ask you
- “How do you know Christianity is true compared to other religions that also claim miracles, holy books, and changed lives?”
- “If salvation is by grace and not works, why should a Christian live a holy life—what actually motivates you not to sin?”
- “Why does God allow sincere, prayerful Christians to disagree on major doctrines if He wants us to know the truth?”
- “If God is sovereign and knows the future, how do human beings have real freedom and responsibility?”
- “How can you trust a book written by humans thousands of years ago, copied and translated many times?”
- “Why do some Christians seem loving and others are hypocritical or abusive—how does that fit with the Holy Spirit supposedly changing people?”
